Now that he'd brought it up, there was no getting out of it. "He, ah," said Jon quietly as they turned a corner, "well, once we were alone in the office, he kind of, um, jumped me."

Allison promptly walked into a wall, and Eric into Allison.

Sleeping bags fell askew, pillows went tumbling; for a moment all three were occupied just gathering everything up again. At last Eric said, "See, that fits! You guys have done plenty of gay innuendo gags!"

"Was this a gag?" asked Allison pointedly.

Jon didn't hesitate. "No.”

There was an uncomfortable silence. Allison broke it. "As his character," she said slowly, "he gets away with all kinds of things -- arrogance, insults, demands -- because he can pretend it isn't him. Maybe..."

"He's not pretending," interrupted Jon. "He's not kidding around, and I don't think this is just a crossed wire in his head, either. I told him, when we were planning this show and he was worried about the character being a jerk, I said, 'Wear it lightly.' He's not wearing it lightly. He's not wearing it at all. He is the character. This is the poorly-informed high-status egotistical blowhard, in the flesh."

I love that this was what finally proved that this isn’t the real Stephen — the way the character they had created was shining through.

The show must go on!

Stephen sat up straight, arching his eyebrows, pouring status and authority into his voice: "Just the kind of weak-willed liberal naysaying I would expect from a member of the mainstream media."

Jon reeled, shock and fear and wild hope flashing through his eyes.

The persona fell away in an instant. "Oh, no -- I'm so sorry, Jon, I should have warned you -- that was me, just me, acting -- I told you, I act, I pretend to be him for a living." Jon's breath was rapid, shaky. "God, Jon, I'm sorry. It wasn't him. He's not back. It was me."

The other man nodded, forcing his breathing to slow. "I knew," he said at last. "You told me you acted -- and you're not my Stephen, my Stephen wouldn't drop references to Japanese fairy tales in conversation, I knew -- but seeing it like that, I hoped, just for a second -- I wasn't prepared, that's all.”

Oh my god, this is heartbreaking.